Year SIX: THAT'S A WRAP!

Happy December 31st!

Today, we take a look back at all the lovely things I've done this past year....or haven't done.....or ripped out.....or......well, let's just get going.

**WARNING**: this is going to be a photo-heavy post and for that, I apologize...but all the photos!

My year started out......I'd say modestly but, really, I was beyond crazy (as I usually am). You can see my first post here. It appeared I had planned to knit all the sweaters and not knit all the socks (but really, I was still going to knit all the socks). Based on last week's post, we all know how well that worked out (I knit all the socks and did not knit all the sweaters...but I didn't even knit all the socks!).

Shall we discuss?


Over the first few months of the year, I made a flurry of Pussy Hats. You know the ones. Pink. Made to look like cat ears. Yeah, I made a total of eleven of those hats, including a baby bulky one that ended up with my Devil Niece.

#1: finished January 15, 2017

The next six hats: finished the last of this pile on May 13, 2017

#8: finished May 23, 2017

#9: finished May 26, 2017

#10 (the baby version): finished May 26, 2017
Yes, that's my niece and yes, that's my little brother.

#11: finished May 26, 2017

All of the Pussy Hats went to someone else. The first went to a friend of mine, the baby one went to my Devil Niece, and the rest went to our gaggle of gay friends. I'm debating whether I should make one for myself. But, that's a discussion for a different day.


But, I didn't just knit Pussy Hats, though it certainly seems like it at first glance.

In the midst of the Pussy Hats, I finished the following knitting projects:

Hermione's Everyday Socks: finished January 28, 2017

Pikachu Hat: finished February 10, 2017

Trusty Hat: finished February 24, 2017

Messed Up Moss: finished May 17, 2017

After all the Pussy Hats, it was back to business as usual. Or something.....

Vanilla Socks: finished June 8, 2017

Stormageddon's Vest: finished June 9, 2017

Bonbon for Miss C: finished July 6, 2017

Unnamed Hat: finished August 24, 2017

Veggie Socks: finished September 8, 2017

Wasabi for Mr. K: finished September 25, 2017

Baby Hat Prototype: finished October 31, 2017

Vanillaish Rainbow Socks: finished November 17, 2017

Rastarmulke: finished November 21, 2017

Mittens for Little Man: finished December 2, 2017

Bugle for Miss E: finished December 8, 2017

BooYah: finished December 10, 2017

Rasta Ski Cap: finished December 24, 2017

But, lest you think all I did was knit this year.......there was spinning!

Frene Creek Farm Corriedale

BMFA Handpainted Roving

Sandy's Palette Silk/Merino Roving (1)

Sandy's Palette Silk/Merino Roving (2)

Miss Babs BFL (2 skeins)

But wait, that's not all! So, I did knitting, I did spinning......and then I did some DYEING!


It all started here:

Holiday Yarns FlockSock 

This first skein is from Stitches West in February. I took a yarn dyeing class from Jennifer of Holiday Yarns. After class, I immediately went to her booth and bought the yarn dyeing kit, which came with two bare skeins of her FlockSock yarn and some basic dyes. The next two came from that.

Holiday Yarns FlockSock

Holiday Yarns FlockSock

I also knew I had a few skeins hanging around that could be dyed so I pulled those out and I maybe did some more yarn dyeing....

Knit Picks Bare Palette Fingering (became Vanillaish Rainbow Socks above)

Malabrigo Rios

Nashua Creative Focus Superwash

Four skeins of Sanguine Gryphon Bugga Bare ends (less than full skeins)

Two skeins of Malabrigo Twist

Two skeins of Malabrigo Sock

Four skeins of Sanguine Gryphon Traveller Bare ends

In addition to those, there were a few skeins that never even made it to a project/yarn page (but were listed in my FO section):

I dyed my first sock blank. I have no idea what kind of clown barf it's going to look like when I knit it up but, you know, I probably don't care :) It's about 463 yds.

These are massive skeins of sock yarn - approx 760 yds......each. The top one is a deep orange/red and black/grey while the bottom is a purple tonal thing.

I *tried* to exhaust the black after the sock blank and the red/black one above....I still have black leftover yet. But this one came out a lovely grey.

I also used up the rest of the red, yellow, orange, and purple (and a little grey) on this skein. This one and the one above are massive skeins of worsted, approx 560 yds each.



I also, sadly, had some frogging happen...but only to a couple projects:

Twilight Socks: frogged September 26, 2017

Neck-Down Base Shawl: frogged November 16, 2017

Morvarch: frogged December 19, 2017

Here's the thing with these projects: they're going to be redone, maybe slightly differently, but they're still intended to be socks (the sock blank), a shawl (the purple), and Morvarch (the blue). I just need to figure out how I'm going to go about them (the first two are design projects of sorts) and fix silly mistakes/issues (Morvarch).

My final FO list looked like this:

Finished Objects (FOs):
1. Pussy Hat: started January 10, 2017; finished January 16, 2017
2. Hermione's Everyday Socks (v2): started November 14, 2016; finished January 28, 2017
3. Frene Creek Farm Corriedale (spinning): started October 12, 2016; finished January 16, 2017
4. Pikachu Hat: started February 3, 2017; finished February 10, 2017
5. Trusty (v2): started December 22, 2016; finished February 24, 2017
6. Pussy Hat: started February 13, 2017; finished February 27, 2017
7. Pussy Hat: started March 2, 2017; finished March 8, 2017
8. Pussy Hat: started March 9, 2017; finished March 21, 2017
9. Pussy Hat: started March 21, 2017; finished March 30, 2017
10. FlockSock Yarn #1: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
11. FlockSock Yarn #2: started April 5, 2017; finished April 5, 2017
12. #initiateknitdesign challenge from ArohaKnits: started April 3, 2017; finished April 11, 2017
13. Knit Picks Bare Palette Fingering: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
14. Malabrigo Rios: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
15. Nashua Creative Focus Superwash: started April 9, 2017; finished April 9, 2017
16. Pussy Hat: started April 13, 2017; finished April 30, 2017
17. Pussy Hat: started April 30, 2017; finished May 13, 2017
18. Messed Up Moss: started January 4, 2017; finished May 17, 2017
19. Pussy Hat: started May 19. 2017; finished May 23, 2017
20. Pussy Hat: started May 24, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
21. Baby Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
22. Pussy Hat: started May 26, 2017; finished May 26, 2017
23. Bugga Bare (2 matching): started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
24. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
25. Bugga Bare: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
26. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
27. Malabrigo Twist: started June 3, 2017; finished June 4, 2017
23. Vanilla Socks: started March 30, 2017; finished June 8, 2017
24. Stormageddon's Vest: started October 17 2016; finished June 9, 2017
25. BMFA Handpainted Roving: started March 23, 2017; finished June 23, 2017
26: Malabrigo Sock: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
27. Malabrigo Sock: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
28. Sanguine Gryphon Traveller: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
29. Sanguine Gryphon Traveller: started July 3, 2017; finished July 4, 2017
30. Bonbon for Miss C: started June 24, 2017; finished July 6, 2017
31. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving: started July 1, 2017; finished July 7, 2017
32. Sandy's Palette Merino/Silk Roving: started July 2, 2017; finished July 10, 2017
33. Miss Babs BFL: started July 11, 2017; finished July 21, 2017

34. Yarn Dyeing Adventures: started August 6, 2017; finished August 6, 2017
35. Unnamed Hat: started August 14, 2017; finished August 24, 2017

36. Veggie Socks: started July 6, 2017; finished September 8, 2017

37. Wasabi for Mr. K: started September 17, 2017; finished September 25, 2017

*38. Twilight Socks (from blanks): started June 8, 2017; frogged September 26, 2017
39. Baby Hat Prototype: started October 23, 2017; finished October 31, 2017
*40. Neck-Down Base Shawl: started September 10, 2017; frogged November 16, 2017
41. Vanillaish Rainbow Socks: started June 1, 2017; finished November 17, 2017
42. Rastarmulke: started November 20, 2017; finished November 21, 2017
43. Mittens for Little Man: started November 25, 2017; finished December 2, 2017
44. Bugle for Miss E: started December 3, 2017; finished December 8, 2017
45. Boo-Yah: started September 25, 2017; finished December 10, 2017
*46. Morvarch Aardvark: started January 1, 2017; frogged December 19, 2017
47. Rasta Ski Cap: started November 25, 2017; finished December 24, 2017

After all those lovely FOs (and frogged projects), I was still left with a pretty substantial WIP list.

Works-in-Progress (WIPs):

1. Wink: started January 5, 2015

2. Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016

3. Fall in San Francisco (prototype 3): started October 4, 2016

4. Smooth Operator Socks: started October 13, 2016

5. Stomping Grounds collection: started February 26, 2017 (no project page)

6. Hat Design: started March 20, 2017

7. Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started July 6, 2017

8. New Hat Design (for the unnamed hat in the FO section): started August 14, 2016

9. Shetland Neck Wool on Support Spindle: started September 8, 2017

10. Gamer Bag: started September 28, 2017

11. Paradiddle Prototype: started October 19, 2017

Wink has been on the needles for almost three years now. It is a top-down raglan cardigan. Do you know how far I am? I've not even reached the part where I put stitches on holders to separate the arms. In three years. In my defense, there are several charts and directions and papers I need to keep track of at the same time and I've finished a lot of other things in between. I also have had smaller children these last three years, who would not let me work from said charts and papers. Now that Stormageddon is a bit older, I might be able to work on this one with him around. Maybe. Little Man is to the point where I could work on it without issue but Stormageddon is still questionable.

Wink: started January 5, 2015

This is not a new photo. This was taken a few months ago. I've just not been assed enough to take a new one. I'm lazy and classy like that. Or not.


My Bad Nut Shawl is still on time-out while I figure out the stitch counts between stitch markers. That's what has it stalled. I'd probably have finished it months ago if I hadn't dropped that stitch marker. ::sigh::

Oh, She IS a Bad Nut: started August 11, 2016

This, too, is not a new photo. In fact, this was the last photo I took before I lost the stitch marker...so, it's still about this size. ::sigh::


We could talk about my Fall in San Francisco prototype hat but, it appears that I frogged it and never restarted it. So it's been sitting in my WIP list and I had every intention of restarting it but I'm kind of like a squirrel with ADHD and, well, one sheep, two sheep, cow, turtle duck, Old Macdonald had a farm, hey Macarena! What were we talking about again?


Yeah, moving along..

My Smooth Operator Socks are going at a snail's pace but they are going. I brought them out the last week of school before break for a few rounds and I pull them out here and there, just for a few rounds. They're good, mindless knitting right now. I've just split for the heel so I'm working on the foot and then I'll go back to the heel in a little while.

Smooth Operator Socks: stared October 13, 2016

This is the finished first sock. The color placement is different on the second sock, I started somewhere in the light blue section that this sock ended with, so the bright green/pink/light blue section is just after the cuff. It's not a big deal to me.


And now we've reached the point where we start talking about WIPs that I actually started in this past year, 2017. All the ones I just talked about? They were all started prior to 2017. Yeah. I'm classy with my WIPs.

2017 actually started with Morvarch, which was unceremoniously frogged less than two weeks ago (see above). Now that I've acquired needles, I can restart it properly, hopefully, and not screw it up. We'll see. But that's how the year started. After that, more things started coming.

My Stomping Grounds Collection is a long-term WIP because it's going to involve knitting several pairs of socks (or other foot/leg-related items), learning a few new things (like two-color knitting and increasing while doing a cable pattern), pattern writing, swatching, and will probably take me years to get off the ground, if I ever do. I took a break from it, however, over the last few months, though thoughts have been creeping back in again. I might have to just start a project or two from the idea bit to see what happens. After I find appropriate yarn, of course.

Then, of course, is another design: a hat design. This one is still very much in the "design" phase. I have some charts written with some doodles but I've not swatched or anything. I might just have to dive into this one.

In between the listed hat design (↑ that one) and the Garter Stitch Baby Blanket, I had also participated in the #initiateknitdesign challenge from Aroha Knits. I may or may not go back to that. It's not listed as a WIP but it's in the design notebook (along with a fingerless mitts pattern and a few others that are also not listed as a WIP).

The Gamer Bag and the Garter Stitch Baby Blanket are still going when I take a moment to sit and work on them. The bag is a design WIP of it's own and the baby blanket is good TV knitting since I don't have to pay all that much attention (except to remember to do my decreases and YOs in the right spots). I'm in no big rush to finish either one of them, honestly.

Garter Stitch Baby Blanket: started July 6, 2017

Again, I'm far too lazy to take a new photo. This was when I was just finishing up the first ball of yarn. I'm currently on the third ball of yarn and have started decreasing back down. It's nothing exciting: it's just Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth made blanket-sized.


The new hat design in the list is for the Unnamed Hat and the Baby Hat Prototype in the FO section above. It's the same stitch pattern on different yarn weights. I have it in my design notebook and I think I've tentatively named it the Rain Showers Hat. We'll see if that sticks. I need to putz with the math again. I have the basic pattern ready, including all the various crown decreases (depending on where you end up in the pattern) but people don't like having a recipe; they would rather have an explicit pattern with gauge and all of that.

I also started another design project: the Paradiddle Prototype. I could write the pattern and have it released before I even finish the first sock (except for gauge) but I feel like I should have, at least, the first sock finished before I go doing that. I'm weird that way.

I also have a spindle spinning project, which I just need to work on....yeah.

That sums up the WIP section in a nutshell.



In addition to all the things I did work on, there was the list(s) of things I didn't work on or didn't get to or changed my mind about or..........my "OMGWTFLSGBBQ" lists

Children's Items:

1. Stuffed toy for TAZ (brother's daughter)

2. Undetermined hat for Little Man

3. Undetermined hat for Stormageddon

4. Mittens for Stormageddon

Items for ME (selfish knitting FTW!):

1. Park Slope (fingering, specifically Mountain Colors Crazy Foot)

2. Worsted weight house socks (worsted, of course - maybe something like Lumberjack)

3. Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole (Miss Babs Northumbria with modifications)

4. Evangeline (worsted; solid or semi-solid)

5. Lichen (Aran or Sport/DK; solid or semi-solid)

6. Moyen Age (fingering; one of my Vice Yarns? Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20?)

7. Ginny's Cardigan (DK; solid or semi-solid)

8. Drip Drip Drop (sock; solid or semi-solid)

9. Celtic Myths (worsted; solid)

10. Jag in Garter Stitch (DK; 2 colors)

11. Cobh (fingering; 2 colors)

12. Offhand Lace (bulky; solid or semi-solid)

13. Whitman (DK; any color)

14. Flax (worsted; any color - Misti Alpaca Harry Potter-esque one?)

15. Hoar Frost (Wollmeise that's wound in the bag)

Christmas/Charity Bin:

1. 198 Yds of Heaven (worsted; solid)

2. Comfort Food (Aran; solid)

3. Tombreck (worsted; solid or semi-solid)

4. Premie Spiral Hat (DK; any color)

5. Pumpkins & a Pattern (any weight, any color - gauge doesn't matter)

Designs:

1. Susan's Hat *started* - need new prototype & write pattern

2. Little Man's Baby Blanket *started* - write pattern

3. Paradiddle Socks  *started* - need prototype & write pattern

4. Pacific Waves Hat *started* - need another prototype & write pattern

5. Fall in San Francisco *started* - need another prototype & write pattern

6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket - need prototype & write pattern

7. Cabled pullover (grey look-alike sweater - Old Navy hooded sweater with cable) - need sketch, grading, swatch, prototype, & write pattern

8. Christmas stocking for Little Man - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)

9. Christmas stocking for Stormageddon - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)

10. Christmas stocking for Husband - need charts, prototype, & write pattern (maybe)

11. Stomping Grounds collection (everything: charts, prototypes, swatches, etc.) *started*

Spinning:
1. Faerie Mountain Fibers Crazy Batt

2. Something from the stash...(lord knows I have plenty)

Other: 
1. Stitch Markers
2. Make sure my vintage patterns are in the Ravelry database (Workbasket magazine, leaflets, etc.)

Some of these things were started, particularly in the "design" section, others were just shifted aside for other things. It's really not a big deal. I've learned over the years that I need some flexibility while giving myself focus. I can't be too rigid or I get resentful and wind up with a serious case of Startitis....or I get so depressed about what I "have to" start that I freeze up and don't start anything at all. I prefer the Startitis but it's a crap shoot. So, flexibility it is :) Besides, these are all self-imposed and, quite frankly, I can give it up anytime I want. Anytime. You just watch.

Okay, I sound like an addict....nevermind.


So, that's where I ended up. That's not too bad, actually. Of course, there were so many things I wanted to knit for myself and I didn't. And things that I just wanted to knit but for which I didn't necessarily have a use (see "charity bin"). And other things. Yeah. Oops.




This last week has been busy around here. With Christmas being Monday, I spent time making food on Christmas Eve, we had friends over on Christmas Eve, we went to see other friends on Christmas Day, we had people over on Boxing Day and it just never seemed to end. We just were busy busy busy all week long, packing, cleaning, taking care of decorations before we left, and it just kept going.

But, here are some new photos:

Stormageddon never took a binky when he was a baby. We tried but he just.....didn't. Little Man, on the other hand, had to have them pried from his hiding spots. This binky was found in my car (don't judge me, dammit!)......and Stormageddon somehow knew what to do with it. I don't know. That boy makes me shake his head.

He is also not afraid of selfies.

Little Man made an ornament out of borax and something at school. So the photo is a bit blurry but he was showing off his ornament.

And lastly:

This is my grandmother's pie. Well, it's her recipe (by way of her mother-in-law). I've been putzing with it for several years because we always had an issue with the custard developing a layer of liquid, which would make the crust ooey-gooey and it was great. But it was also a pain in the ass. This is proof that we finally got it right: no ooey-gooey. And it's perfect and awesome.

With that, I hope you've had a lovely weekend and enjoyed my wrap-up post. Next week, I will have my first post for my 7th Self-Imposed Year of Projects :)